11
I wake abruptly the next morning to the sounds of knocking at my door. I groan and shove the covers back over my face.
Begging for another few moments of peace.
But I am denied that simple request as the guard knocks again and announces why he is here.
“Miss, the King is requesting that we take you to meet him within the next half hour.”
I groan again and the knocking continues.
“Fine.” I call out through gritted teeth, before gasping softly to myself. The sound of my own voice surprises me and I clutch my throat.
My voice is back, it’s a little tender when I talk but no more croaking.
It’s about time.
I roll out of bed, hissing at the cold that meets me from my light bed clothes. Walking over to the wardrobe, I open it and get dressed in my usual attire, before putting my hair into a plait down my back. The front pieces of my hair popping out as I do, flowing either side of my face.
The guards lead me through the castle to where I’m supposed to meet the King. It’s not too far from my room, not taking anywhere near as long to get to the small arched wooden door as it did to get to the training rooms yesterday.
The guard knocks on the door before us, three times before stepping back and waiting.
I hear the King call out, letting us in and the guard obeys immediately. Grabbing the door handle and opening it for me to walk through.
I’m met with a small but cosy room on the other side of the door. The warmth of the fireplace seeps into my veins as I walk into the room.
I turn my head to look around, seeing two dark red arm chairs and a couch in the middle, resting before the fireplace.
This is where the King and Cole are seated, they haven’t looked at me since I walked into the room.
I tear my gaze away from them.
In the opposite direction, there’s a wooden desk in the back corner. Covered in letters, ink bottles and books that also flow onto the floor below.
I look forward now, the room is filled from floor to ceiling with books on most walls.
The only bare walls are just by the fire, but even they have paintings.
The portraits look like they could be each of the Kings over the years.
They look similar to Xander, with their dark hair and tanned skin.
But it appears the current one is missing.
I look back down and note him and Cole sitting in the arm chairs by the fire with drinks in hand.
“Good morning, your highness.” I say as the guard closes the door behind me.
The King chokes on his drink and looks up at me with a glare.
“Xander will do.”
“I don’t know if we’ve got that far yet.” I say as I walk over and take a seat on the couch between them, earning a scoff from the King.
“Hello Cole.”
“Good morning, assassin."
I smile slightly and stare into the fire. The warmth hitting my cheeks.
“I see your voice is better.” The King notes, I just shrug my response before moving onto what I’m actually here for.
“Alright.” I say with a sigh after a few quiet moments, “what’s the big conspiracy about this war.”
“It’s not a conspiracy, it’s just not as simple as you believe it to be.” The King says through gritted teeth. I almost smile into the fire. I think I might have struck a nerve.
“So it’s not some King with an ego trying to gain more land and rule over more people.” I reply tightly.
“Oh no, it absolutely is— but the king of Hidale has more goals than just taking over my land.” The King replies, clearly picking up who I was talking about.
“Like what?”
“He wants to wipe out all the hybrids.” Cole states.
I whip my head towards Cole to look at him, my eyebrows raised. I heard them talking about this in the tent a few days ago when I first met them. They had said Hidale soldiers killed the centaur children, and that one of their own soldiers had led him to them.
But they hadn’t mentioned any of the other hybrids, one’s without physical features or otherwise. Hybrids are any creature that is half fae, half something else— there are a lot of fae that don’t like that.
“But why? Obviously we know that there’s fae that don’t like them, that don’t accept them. But why wipe them all out? What reason could he have, it can’t just be pure hatred?” I reply and hear the exasperation in my voice as I finish.
“It’s not just pure hatred.” The King answers.
“He wants to kill them all, because of a prophecy.” Cole adds.
“A prophecy?” I reply, my voice suspicious.
“Yes.” He says simply, like it’s the most normal answer he could have given.
“And what does this prophecy state about hybrids?” I question, needing more than the answer he gave.
“It states, that the King of Hidale, will fight to become King of all but will be defeated by a hybrid before he can succeed and take the throne of Aressor.” It’s the King who answers this time and I almost gasp. Looking at the King incredulously, like he has to be joking.
Aressor is the whole continent, not just Hidale and Erador, all other Kingdoms included.
I had known Hidale was ambitious but taking control of the whole continent is insane.
I narrow my brows, looking between Xander and Cole, piecing everything together.
“So that’s why he’s killing hybrids, to stop them from killing him one day.”
“Yes.” It’s Xander who replies.
“Does it specify which hybrid? There’s so many, it could be any of them.” I say quickly, working through everything in my head.
“No one knows which hybrid, which is why he is targeting them all. None of them are safe.”
“So that’s why you’re protecting them, so the prophecy becomes true.” I breathe out, looking between the King and Cole.
I hear Cole scoff next to me. “And because we genuinely don’t want to see innocent hybrids die. But I wouldn’t expect you to see that side.”
I glare at him.
“I have never killed hybrids. I may be considered ruthless but I don’t hate beings or kill them just because they’re different. I kill because it’s my job— what I’m paid to do, not unlike the men you command in your armies.”
I seethe at him, my words gritting through my teeth. Threatening to cut through him.
“Enough.” The King says, that quiet but lethal command cutting back through his voice.
“We need to work together, this only works if we’re all on the same side.”
“So what do you need me for?” I demand, crossing my arms over my chest and sinking back into the couch.
“There are certain things we may need to obtain, in order to ensure the prophecy completes its course.” Xander says carefully, looking across to Cole before looking back at me. “But first, we need to go and see the prophecy for ourselves, to make sure we’re not missing anything.”
My brows knot in confusion as I look at Xander, thinking I mustn't have heard him right.
“So you’re telling me, you haven’t actually heard the prophecy for yourselves?”
“We haven’t had the chance to, we can’t get in.” The King replies, his mouth forming a tight line after he takes a sip of his drink.
“Then how do you know what the prophecy is?” I ask, my words escape my mouth faster than I had meant them to.
The fire lights up the King's calculating blue eyes as he stares across at me.
“It’s been passed down through generations in my family. The prophecy has been around for centuries, even before the King of Hidale existed. But you know how things like this go. Information, passed on through multiple people, often gets misconstrued.”
I shake my head, trying to make sense of everything.
The King of Hidale ruling over us all would be nothing short of disastrous.
He’s a cruel and cunning man who has no regard for anyone’s life but his own.
The same man who started the conscription that tears apart so many families.
The same man who conscripted me, making a deal with the Agency and tearing me from the only life I knew.
The same man who allows the Agency to take in young fae who have useful powers and turn them into monsters.
“So you need me to listen to the prophecy because you guys can’t get in?”
“Exactly.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What makes you so sure I can get in?”
He shrugs but directs his gaze away from me. “I have my reasons, one of which involves your powers to remain unseen.”
I stare back towards the fire, listening to the cracks and pops for a few moments. My mind racing, sorting through the information, what it all means.
“When do we start?” I ask, turning my face back towards Xander.
He smiles at me, the fire lighting up his features and the emotion I can’t quite place in his eyes.
“I didn’t think you’d be so eager?”
I lean back further into my seat on the couch and cross one leg over my ankle. “I’m ready for my first pay cheque.”
He laughs, the most real sound I’ve heard in a while.
“Then let us waste no more time.”